It can seem very challenging to sell products and services that aren’t something anyone can hold in their hand. But they exist en masse today, so it’s becoming easier to help someone conceptualize the intangible.

Some examples of intangible products and services are:

• digital content – Websites, online games, and even social networks are intangible assets.
• Content delivered online – Downloadable e-books, music, movies, and anything delivered online today can be considered intangible.
• Patents and copyrights – Awarded by the government when you apply, you get a certificate, but it’s not something you can really hold on to.
• Education – While you do get a certificate at the end, the product itself is not something you can touch.

Describe them fully

The problems associated with selling intangible goods and services are that people have a hard time understanding them and therefore trusting that it really is real and relevant. This is one of the reasons why many people are confused with the idea that using images, music and property of others that they found online is illegal. But you can make it easier by using images to represent the intangible goods or services.

Turn them into a guarantee

If you want people to buy your products and services, you need to make sure that you build enough trust with the audience that they are open to making the purchase. You can do this by offering a guarantee of some kind. Since they can’t touch the item before they buy it, eliminating problems can go a long way toward helping people make a purchase.

Focus on benefits

Any good marketing always focuses on benefits over features. This is even more important for selling intangibles because they can’t actually touch or feel the product. If you are a virtual assistant, are you selling customer service or are you selling more time to your customers? How can you explain this to them better?

Show success stories

Collect testimonials from satisfied customers and place them on your sales page, in your marketing literature, and keep them in memory to talk about at events and one-on-one calls. Knowing that other people have succeeded will calm their fears and make them more likely to try.

green is the new black

Explaining that intangible products and services are better for the environment can go a long way to helping your customer better visualize what they are getting. For example, if you sell software, downloading it means that the cost is lower because it no longer needs to be manufactured like CDs and DVDs do.

Connect with the person in charge

Knowing who is in charge of the portfolio threads makes a big difference in the success of any sale. Only spend time talking to the person who can make the decisions, so you don’t have to end up giving your sales pitch to multiple people just so no one can make a decision.